Tuesday; July 22
Not long ago I did something that wasn’t all that intelligent. It didn’t turn out to be horrible, but it was just kind of silly and embarrassing. When I came in the house and told Jeane what I had done, she said something to the effect, “We all do things like that” … then, without really thinking too much about it, I said, “Well, I am not supposed to do stuff like that!”. Interestingly … and wisely … she said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”. I was a bit shocked by her response, but it did get me to thinking about my personal accountability. I know that I am not perfect – but, am I willing to accept it when I’m not? When other people make mistakes, I try to be supportive, but when I do it, I am probably my own worst critic. Not only do I not allow myself to excuse my actions, I add an extra layer of guilt on to it.
Have you noticed how quick we are to advocate that we have responsibility to love each other, but did you notice a common application to that decree? On more than one occasion, the Bible tells us something like, “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. (James 2:8). Sure, while the primary focus of this text is to show love to our neighbor, there might be at least a subtle reminder that we need to show a little (love) to ourselves. Again, this isn’t about excusing our failures, but it does help us to justify giving ourselves the same type of breaks we might give others. Let’s be tolerant of others – and let’s save a little bit for ourselves.
Think About It!